William c



W. C. SHERMAN.

Thin-Coupling;

Patented Nov. 27. 1866.

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' SPECIFICATION.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. SHERMAN, of Boston, in the county ofSufi'o'lk, and State of Massachusetts,

have invented an Improvement in Shaft Attachments, the same being a newand useful invention and I do hereby declare that the following is afull and exact description of the construction andamodd of use of thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters and figures marked thereon.

' Figure I is a vertical section of one shaft of a pair of shafts.

Figure II, vertical section of the shaft, the outer end being depressed;Figure III represents the axle-tree, or the drawbar to which the shaftsare attached. A The object of my invention is to provide a ready andconvenient mode of 'attaching and detaching the shafts of carriages, andat the same time insure perfect safety, the parts being so constructedthat the shafts a cannot be removed from the draw-bar while they arehorizontal and in the position they occupy when supported at the sidesof the horse. ;'My invention is especially applicable to vehicles thatare used with'a pole for two horses, which requires to be taken outand-two shafts put in when 'a single horse is to be'used. Each of the t1 1 two shafts is usually attached to a carriage by means of a bolthaving a head at one end and a screw-nut at the other; this nut oftenworks loose and falls ofl'; the bolt then comes out and one ofthe-shafts falls, thus causing serious accidents.

In my improvement the iron bolt, D, has a fixed head or projection atboth ends, and is a fixturein the draw-bar, B A. The whole draught orstrain comes upon this bolt, and the rear end of :theshaft is in contactwith it at the curvedpart, E, which is either a part of the shaft, S QP, or it-may be a separate piece of iron properly secured to the shaft.Onits front edge there is a recess,,near ly circular, to receivethebolt, D, and opposite to the recess is the free end, G, of thespring, I H G. The fixed .en d, I, of this springis secured to the underside of the shaft by the screw 0 and the free end is allowed to open oris held closed by the screw-bolt and nut, L N. t

The draw-bar is usually made with two side pieces, which enclose theflattened end, E, of the shaft; the 1 ends of draw-bolt D are supportedin these side pieces, and the shaft can; move freely on the bolt D as acentre. In the rear of the curved part, E, there is a small cavity orrecess in the .draw-bar tol -receive a smallpiece of India rubber, C;the small shoulder, J, formed on the shaft is just above it, and itbears against thepart E and prevents jarring and noise;

When the shafts are to be put in or taken out they are depressed, as inFig. II, the nut, N, is started back from the spring, the-mouth, Y, isthrust against the bolt, D, which enters its seat in the part E the nut,N, is i then turned back against the spring and lieeps the mouth, Y,closed. It will be noticed that-when the shafts are horizontal theshoulder, J, compresses the India rubber, G, and makes a close :fi't ofall the parts.

What I claim as my invention, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent,: is

The hook E taking a solid bearing on the lower part of the draw-bar, incombination with spring Gyshouldttt l J, and rubber pad G, allconstructed, arranged, and operating substantially as described. p

WILLIAM G. SHERMAN. [sun-.1

Witnesses J ous M. Bsrcnnnnnn, J 01m Fnnnansn.

